


This Is Taking A New Turn

by HaileyAnn



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: 1d, 5SOS - Freeform, BoyxBoy, Chaptered, F/M, M/M, Nashton - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-11
Updated: 2014-03-20
Packaged: 2018-01-01 05:10:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1040729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaileyAnn/pseuds/HaileyAnn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically Ashton is a film student and he needs a subject for his project.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [paolacrdgz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/paolacrdgz/gifts).



> Not a lot of people like Nashton but whateverrrr,it isn't very good sorry :/ this isn't really edited because I'm super lazy I apologize. I'm still getting used to the format so sorry if it looks weird! 
> 
> Enjoy <3 Comments are greatly appreciated.
> 
> this is for Paola, i love youuuu

Being a film student was the best thing Ashton had ever decided to do. It was difficult yes, but it was fun and it was something he loved to do. Plus he could make some money off of it. Once he graduated of course.

  The dingy little flat that was currently home to him while he attended Manchester University had cameras and tapes spewed throughout the whole thing. The only reason he was currently going to school in England instead of Australia was because he’d been lucky enough to win a film contest and get half a scholarship to attend. He couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

  His little computer system was set up in the corner of his living room with three different monitors. He took film class extremely seriously.

  His current project was showing his ability to use a green screen. All he could use was the screen and himself, so he edited himself onto the stage of a Blink 182 concert with some footage of his mate Luke from back home had taken and sent him.

  Green screens were a little amateur for his taste, but he understood why his professor was making them do it. If you couldn’t use one what the hell were you even doing in the class.

  He had other homework as well, but he always chose to do that last. Film was most important to him. He really needed to create a routine, his goal was to do his best in University and not slack off like everyone insisted he would, because that’s what everyone did.

  Back home he’d had pristine grades. He also had friends and a social life. How he’d managed it, he had no idea. The universe had been on his side. Now it wasn’t.

  Lectures were boring, notes were hard to keep up with, and he seemed to be writing essays all the time. FILM was his comfort blanket. The professor was a man in his early forties with Harry Potter glasses and perfect, gelled to the side brown hair. He was interesting though and that’s what made him love the class so much.

  Adjusting his glasses, he finished typing all the basic information about his project (type of camera, software he used, etc.) and burnt the tape onto a DVD. It was barely two minutes long and seemed like a waste of DVD to Ashton but it was what Mr. Wilkins wanted. He taped the info to the inside of the DVD case and tucked it safely inside his messenger bag. He had a certain order to everything.

  This would’ve been the perfect time to heat up some leftovers and watch some bad television before going to bed, but he had to finish his essay on his greatest inspiration in the film industry. It could be someone modern or someone from the early days. He knew most students would be choosing old men so they would seem more sophisticated which was why he’d chosen Chris Columbus, director of the first Harry Potter film.

  Most of his essay was bullshitted at the last minute which was how some of his best work was written. He hated this class more than anything. It was boring and didn’t teach him shit on how to achieve the things he wanted to.

  It was necessary because he needed to take a certain number of classes and it was better than taking something useless like math.

  He gave the essay a bored look once he’d finished (exactly 2,000 words) and sent the file to his teacher. It definitely wasn’t his best work and it was already 12:30 by the time he finished. He had his first class at 7 the next morning. Shit.

  Luckily all he had left was to design a poster convincing someone to buy a certain product using only images and animation. He had no idea how this would help his film career, but it seemed like a fun class to take.

  This took longer than it should have because he kept dozing off while pasting images and adding effects. In the end it was a pretty crappy job but it was due tomorrow and he was about to fall asleep.

  So much for trying to be efficient while in Uni.

 

Getting up at 6:30 to take the tube to school was not how he preferred it. Back home he lived next door to school which didn’t start until 7:45.

  Yawning, he added some extra sugars to his very bland tasting black coffee from the school cafeteria and made a dash for his FILMOGRAPHY 101 classroom. At exactly 6:59 he was in a seat preparing his notes.

  Projected onto the board was the word “Documentary”. Oh great, it was pretty easy to tell what that meant and it didn’t sound fun. Just when Ashton had found a class he actually liked.

  Professor Wilkins walked in, waving his hand distractedly at the class. “No need for notes today unless you have some desire to do so. We’re going to watch a documentary on the life Michael Jackson. Now I know he has nothing to do with film but it’s the movie not the subject we’re focusing on. Afterwards I’ll explain your assignment and you’ll be free to go. It’s a very short movie.”

  This suddenly sounded interesting to Ashton, and he leaned forwards in his seat. Like the good little student he was he did take notes but not on what he learned about Michael Jackson (who was born on August 29, 1958 according to the film). He took notes on what kind of things the film showed on his life, how they compared it to other things, and what kind of lighting they showed everything in.

  The professor was right, the film was only about 20 minutes. And the explanation to the project was even shorter. “You will be assigned to make your own documentary now. On someone who attends the university. I could care less who it is. It could be someone in this classroom. It just needs to do what the film did right here. Show the highlights of their life and their struggles along the way. It has to be at least 15 minutes but longer is greatly encouraged.”

  frick, Ashton thought. I don’t have any friends who am I going to use?

  “You’ll have two weeks to finish. Good luck, you can leave class early today.”

  Without really paying attention to what he was doing, he blindly shoved things into his bag and walked out of the lecture hall. He had absolutely no freaking clue who he was supposed to make his documentary on. The only person he ever hung out with here were these girls who thought he was “adorable” and had “pinchable cheeks”. They were the opposite of exciting. They were downright boring. No, he couldn’t make one of them the subject of his movie. He was going to ask the professor if he could make the movie about himself, but that probably defeated the purpose of the whole assignment.

  It was only 7:30 and his next class wasn’t until ten. Two hours to do whatever he wanted. He wanted to find someone to make his movie on, but he had no friends. This probably meant he should start making some. Like now.

  He walked into the cafeteria to scope out his victims. There were the law students who were all too boring. The pre-med, who could work but they were too inexperienced for his needs. Those were the only students who seemed to be awake at the moment so he’d need to search elsewhere to find someone.

  “Gah!” he said aloud, earning a few weird looks from the kids standing near him. Ashton angrily went to the counter and ordered a muffin which got him some more strange looks.

  He walked out of the building into the cold autumn weather of Manchester. He wasn’t used to these climatic differences. In Aussie at this time of year it wasn’t as cold.

  He frustratedly picked off pieces of his muffin as he walked aimlessly around campus. “Way to be such a moron,” he mumbled to himself. “Can’t even get one freaking friend to film a movie about.” He’d always been an outsider but at home he’d had friends. Wonderful friends. Younger friends but still friends. Luke, Calum, and Michael were stuck back at home. Luke was the only one who’d stayed in high school though.

  “Maybe I’ll just do it on myself and not ask the professor,” Ashton continued. He was talking to himself. First sign of insanity. The most interesting thing about himself was the fact that he was attending school in England. He needed someone who was different.

  He’d been walking and talking to himself so long he hadn’t realized where he was walking and suddenly he was almost heading into a mother and daughter. He quickly said his apologies and tried to recognize his surroundings. The park. Not too far from the school. Maybe this was a good place to be, it was pretty he could find some inspiration here.

  Ashton pushed his glasses up his nose and adjusted his beanie atop his head. There was hardly anyone here except an old couple and teenage boys playing footie on the lawn. The boys appeared to be wearing Manchester U sweatshirts. Maybe this was his inspiration.

  He sat down at the bench by the lawn and took out his iPhone to video tape the scene. He totally was not a stalker.

  “Horan!” one of the boys shouted. “Watch your freaking feet!” The person who said it didn’t look very serious. He was approximately very short. Or at least compared to Ashton.

  Laughter from the one who was getting yelled at boomed throughout the park. He wasn’t much taller than the other but damn was he fit. His skin glistened with sweat and his blond hair was tousled from running around. His feet moved swiftly with the football between his feet and he kicked it easily into the makeshift goal (two sports bags about 7 meters apart).

  The blond one cupped his hands around his mouth and imitated people shouting. “Yeah! Horan makes the final goal! Yeah!”

   Ashton felt very stalkerish, but he would definitely be watching this footage later. The blond one was just so damn cute.

   The other boy laughed at his friend and gave him a friendly slap across the back. “Someday, mate. We’ll be there someday.”

  Ashton shut off his video and stood up confidently. He wanted the one with the Irish accent and all too loud voice to be the subject of his film. All he had to do was go up to him and ask. He would either be laughed at, looked at like a psycho, or the person would agree. The first two seemed most likely. He guessed since these two played football they were popular. He definitely was not.

   “Just do it, Irwin,” he told himself. And so he did.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know anything about the British schooling system no hate

“Oi!” Niall moaned into his pillow. It was far too early in the morning for someone to be poking him in the ribs. He couldn’t have possibly pissed someone off already.

  “Wake up,” an annoying voice said into his ear. Louis most likely.

  “What time is it?” Niall knew he couldn’t have overslept he had four alarms set on his phone. “And why are you jamming your fingers into my side?”

  Louis giggled into his hand. This had to be good. “Just get up, I want to go play footie at the park. Before practice, ya know.”

  The clock on his bedside said that it was 7:19. “Why are you doing this to me, Tommo? You’re never up this early on a Monday.”

  “Well there’s a first for everything,” Louis sputtered out uselessly. “Fine, that bird I like has her first class at 8, and I want to happen to be out at the same time. C’mon you have to help me it’s in the bro code.”

  Niall gave him a look. “There’s no bro code. But I will help you because aww Lou’s got a crush!” He pinched Louis’ cheeks cheekily.

  Louis slapped his hands away and forced him out of bed by the arm. “Hurry along then, it’s almost time for her to be out and about!”

  He had to love Louis a goddamned lot to be up this early for him. It looked rather cold out so he slipped on his Manchester U sweatshirt and shorts because they were going to “play football”.

  The icy air bit at his skin once they were outside and Niall glared at his friend. “I can’t believe I let you drag me into this.” Louis didn’t look distressed by his anger, only giddy. “What’s this bird’s name anyway?”

  “Eleanor,” he answered, his voice taking a dreamy like state. Louis shook his head. “She’s real fit and all.” Niall could tell Louis was purposely making his voice sound deeper.

  “If her class isn’t until 8 why are we going to the park to play footie? In fact why are we even awake right now?” His first class wasn’t until 10:30, sleep sounded fantastic right now.

  “Because by the time we get back it’ll be 8 and we’ll be all…” Louis made several hand motions. “You know, hot looking because we’ll have been out exercising.”

  Niall wasn’t exactly sure how that logic worked, but he was too tired to argue with his best friend at the moment. The park wasn’t that far from the university. It was cold and that made everything more challenging. “It’s freaking freezing, Lou, why are we out instead of in our dorms. Asleep.”

  “Oh hush you baby, you’ll warm up once we start moving.”

  He was right. Once they were finally running around the large scape of lawn that was the park, sweat sprung to his skin. He loved it.

  The lawn wasn’t big enough to create two goals so they lined their sports’ bags across from each other as their somewhat makeshift goal. They did a slight warm up of kicking the ball back and forth in between each other

  By the time they got an actual game going, Niall kept having to stop and laugh because Louis was purposely trying to distract him by shouting random things off the top of his head. “Filthy cheater!” he laughed, stopping to laugh some more.

  Their game stayed playful the whole time. They had actual practice later so it didn’t really matter. At one point Niall accidentally stuck his foot out and Lou almost fell flat on his face.

  “Horan!” Louis spat irritably at him. “Watch your freaking feet!”

  Niall giggled into his hand and it quickly turned to loud laughter. He was amused by practically everything Louis did. What could he say, Lou was a funny guy. After he caught his breath he easily took the ball back between his feet and dribbled it a little way’s across the field and kicked the ball into the “goal”.

  It was one of the many goals he’d already made that morning, but he was bored and he figured they were leaving. It was plenty past eight. What a waste of waking up early. “Yeah! Horan makes the final goal! Yeah!” He mimicked a screaming stadium.

  Dramatic was his middle name.

  Louis came up from behind him and hit him playfully on the back. “Someday, mate. We’ll be there someday.” He checked his phone and cursed rather loudly. “Shit! It’s 8:05! Eleanor’s class will have already begun!”

  Niall rolled his eyes as he rummaged through his bag for a towel and some water. “Yeah and you got us up at this ungodly hour. What a waste--”

   Someone cleared their throat from behind him. It was a quiet sound, something a kitten might make. He turned around and was surprised by what he saw. The boy was roughly 12 centimeters taller than him but his face looked a lot younger. Brown fringe stuck out of his beanie and glasses that were the perfect size for his face were on his nose. “Hello.” He was positive he’d never seen this kid before. He would’ve remembered. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Yes, um, my name’s Ashton,” the boy got out all in one breath. “I’m over at Manchester, I assume you are too, I’m a film major. One of our assignments is to create a documentary about one of the students here. I don’t really have any friends--” his cheeks reddened “--and I saw you playing football and I was wondering if you’d be willing to be the subject of my film? You don’t have to, I realize this is a really weird request.”

  Niall was very surprised by the boy’s (Ashton’s) request. To anyone else he most likely would’ve laughed but he was so, so, so adorable. Especially the little dimple in his cheek as he smiled awkwardly at him. “You want to film something about my life?”

  “Yes.”

   He smiled at him. “Sure. Sounds fun.” Louis was making annoyed tapping motions on his wrist behind Ashton at him. “Um. I have to go right now.” As quickly as he could he handed Ashton his phone. “Just put in your number and we’ll get together sometime tonight or tomorrow?”

   There was no hesitation in Ashton’s motions. In three seconds flat Niall was holding his phone again, against his chest. They said quick goodbyes, Ashton looking very proud of himself, and then parted ways.

   “What was that about?” Louis asked once they were walking back in the direction of the school.

   “Film student asking to make a film about me,” Niall replied smugly. The image of the embarrassed, endearing, but extremely tall Uni student was still fresh in his mind. If he had things his way he’d stare at him all day. In a totally platonic way of course. He wondered what had sparked the kid’s attention to choose him for the film, and what he had meant when he said he didn’t have any friends. Surely anyone would love to spend all day everyday talking to him. He knew he would even after only have a 30 second long of just Ashton talking to him.

  He’d noticed Ashton had an accent and nothing that sounded remotely European.

   “I am far more interesting than you,” Louis retorted.

   Niall laughed obnoxiously. “Keep dreaming, Tommo.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters will get longer I promise.
> 
> Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated <3


	3. Chapter 3: Ashton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They hand out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i already have the thing written im just bad at posting soz

Ashton was so happy he felt like he could do anything. The one tiny problem was what if Horan--that was his last name he assumed, he had yet to discover his first--didn’t text him. He could’ve just agreed to get rid of him quicker. Ashton’s stomach hurt just considering the idea.

  Throughout the rest of the day he checked his phone to see if Horan had texted him about meeting up at any time. He only had two weeks to complete the project so he’d need to spend as much time with him as possible, which didn’t sound bad, but it might not be pleasant for Horan.

  It wasn’t until around 3:45 that his phone finally rang with an unknown number. “Hi.” His heart pounded lightly in his chest. Please please be Horan…

  “Hey, is this Ashton?” The familiar voice on the other line sent relief through him. Horan wasn’t going to stand him up.

  “It is. This is… Sorry, I don’t think I got your name.” Ashton got the confidence that he had early. The still unknown named boy was going to follow through with his promise to help.

   There was a little chuckle. “It’s Niall. Listen, I’m about to go to footie practice, but it ends at 7:30 if you maybe want to meet up? Or if that doesn’t work, tomorrow morning is good for me too.”

   Ashton was so anxious to have a proper conversation with Niall that tonight at midnight would have pleased him. “7:30 is great. My flat? Or Starbucks? Or wherever really…” He knew his place was a bit of a travel from the university, and he wasn’t going to make Niall do that.

   There was a few seconds pause. Ashton momentarily feared he’d scared Niall off somehow already. “Your place is good. I kind of already had my daily dose of Starbucks.” He laughed again. It was officially the most beautiful sound Ashton had ever had the pleasure of hearing.

   It was impossible to keep the smile out of his voice. “I live at Woodridge. If that’s too inconvenient we can switch.”

  “No, no that’s fine, I’ve got a friend who lives there.”

  “Awesome.” Ashton’s cheeks physically hurt from smiling so wide. Luckily there was hardly anyone in the Subway he was currently in to see him. “My number is 39B. See you then.” Not waiting for a goodbye from Niall, he hung up the phone.

  If Niall was coming over to his house then he would have to do some serious cleaning in the next three hours. His place was an absolute mess.

   He didn’t pause to waste a moment and was already walking to the tube to go back to his flat. There wouldn’t be any necessary filming today he just hoped they’d be able to talk for a while. He was being a bit rude, shoving people out of his way. Why did he have to be as messy as every other teenage boy ever?

 

He’d gotten farther with his crappy cleaning job than he thought he would in two hours (still an hour to spare). He spent most of his time in the living room/kitchen. He doubted there’d be any bedroom action ever. Not that he had considered the idea. Of course not.

  He’d never really given his sexuality a real thought. As a young 15 year old, finding other boys’ attractive was a bit surprising to him. His first male crush had been on one of the senior rugby players. He’d gone home and cried briefly into his pillow. It didn’t last long because he realized how utterly ridiculous he was being. Who the frick cared if he liked boys? Or girls? Because he definitely liked them too. His mum was one of the most understanding people in the world, he knew he wouldn’t be kicked out. Since his mini meltdown in his room he’d decided to not even think about his sexuality. If he liked someone, he liked someone that was great. No labels were needed.

  That didn’t mean Niall thought the same way. He didn’t have a crush on the blond boy, he just didn’t mind the idea of their lips maybe touching for a few seconds. Or minutes. He didn’t know him well enough to actually like him, but he was no doubt about it attracted to Niall.

  Even if he knew Niall was into dicks, he probably still wouldn’t make a move on him. Why would he like dorky, freshman Ashton? It was better he not even focus on the idea at all and just work on his assignment. Yeah, that was a fantastic idea.

  With only about an hour until Niall showed up at his door, he still had some work to do. His editing area was a little messy. (Okay a lot a bit.)

   Loose papers were thrown across his desk and different lenses weren’t even stacked properly. He did his best straightening everything out, he really did. In the end he couldn’t exactly fit all his equipment in the drawer so he prayed it looked somewhat neat.

  Time had completely escaped him and he couldn’t even get himself ready before there was knocking at the door. “Shit,” he said lightly under his breath. He looked exactly the same as he had that morning, only slightly less as put together.  “One moment!” he shouted, running to his room to change his pullover to a tank top that he’d cut himself.

   When he managed to open the door, there was a smiling Niall on the other side. His hair was wet and his clothes hung to his skin. It wasn’t sweat, most likely shower water. “Evening,” Niall greeted.

  “Hello,” Ashton responded, stepping aside to let his new friend in. “How was practice?” Small talk was not his area of expertise. He preferred putting up walls around himself until someone talked to him. Even to his boys back home.

  “Tiring, not much of a surprise. The team needs some serious work if we plan on beating Yorkshire next week. It’s a home game, are you coming?” Niall didn’t pause much when he talked.

  Ashton had never even considered attending one of the sports matches ever. But if Niall was suggesting that he do just that he couldn’t exactly say no. “Maybe, depends if I’m busy.” He never had plans.

  “You should, boy knows we need the support.” Niall looked around the tiny flat that was his home. “It’s cute. Your flat I mean.”

   Ash’s cheeks reddened. “Thanks.” They were still kind of awkwardly standing in the doorway. He moved towards his couch, hoping Niall would follow.

   Niall thankfully got the message and sat down next to him, setting his sports’ bag by his feet. “I live in a dorm with my mate, Louis. He was the one I was with this morning.”

   “Oh? Seems nice.” Ashton wasn’t lying but the lad had also seemed very intimidating at the same time. “You mentioned having a friend that lived here.”

  “Yeah, ‘names Zayn. Kind of quiet, dark skin and hair.” Niall shrugged. “He goes to uni with us. Maybe you’ve seen him around.

  I probably haven’t, he thought, I’m always inside. “Maybe.” Ashton felt bad. He knew he wasn’t the best conversationalist in the world.

  “Is that your equipment?” Niall asked, motioning to the supplies that were stashed in the corner of his flat.

  “It is. I’m not the most organized person. More of it is shoved into the drawer.” Ashton got up to retrieve the small Canon camera that hadn’t made it into the drawer. “This isn’t even what I use most. Cost about 200 pounds. I have some that cost around 1.2k pounds.”

   Niall stared with wide eyes at the little thing in his hands. “Must be some pretty good stuff then. My soccer cleats only cost around 100. Impressive, mate.”

   Ashton hoped it didn’t look like he was bragging. He really didn’t have that much money, it had taken up his entire life’s savings to pay for the beauties that were cameras. “They’re my idea of a sport’s car.”

   “Speaking of cameras, how’s this thing with me going to work?”

  “Well, I’ll probably need footage of you just being normal. Maybe I’ll interview you with the green screen and you can tell me whatever you’re comfortable telling me. Pictures would be nice too, but you absolutely do not have to. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” Ashton felt like he was pushing Niall into something he wasn’t willing to do.

  The Irish boy laughed. “All of that is perfectly fine. Sounds pretty cool as well. We’ll have more than enough talk to me it sounds like. What about you? Doesn’t sound like you’re from around here.”

  Ashton raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t sound like you’re from ‘round here either,” he said back, referring to his Irish accent.

  “‘M closer to home than you, bud.” Niall gave a little half smile at him with his head tilted to the side and Ashton almost melted on the spot. “Why’re you so far from home?” His voice was so sincere.

  “Needed a change of scenery I guess,” Ashton whispered. “Australia is amazing, I love my home, but it’s just that. Home. I wanted to experience something new. I got a half scholarship to attend Manchester so I couldn’t very well say no, could I?”

  “Who’s back home? You mentioned not having friends, but you’ve got to have someone 16,000 kilometers away.”

  Ashton did and he suddenly felt homesick. “I’ve got my mum. And my brother and sister. And my three best mates.”

  “Tell me about them.” Niall seemed genuinely interested in Ashton’s life and his heart swelled with appreciation for the boy in front of him.

  Ashton didn’t know where to begin to describe the people he loved. “I’m closest to Harry, my brother. He’s the sweetest kid you would ever meet. Lauren’s amazing too, but Harry is who I go to when I need someone to talk to. My mum is my favorite person in the world. I love them all.

  “Luke is one of my best mates. He’s pretty shit and freakishly tall, but when he’s around the people he trusts he’s really weird but we love him to death anyway. Michael likes to color his hair odd colors. He’s a really sincere guy who is great at giving advice. Calum isn’t like any of us, we’re outcasts. He’s the sun shining in the morning. He’s loud and happy and funny and incredibly rude. Sometimes he gets really quiet, and that’s when you know something’s wrong.” Talking about them made Ashton’s stomach hurt. He’d be calling them later to remind them that he loved them. He was cheesy at the most random times.

  Niall was grinning. It wasn’t very wide, but the corners of his mouth were turned up and his eyes shined with understanding. “I’ve got some people like that in my life. Louis is my best mate in the whole entire world. He’s kind of like Calum but with more stupidity. He’ll drag me out at three a.m. to go clubbing with him. This morning he woke me up at 7 to go meet some bloke he’s got a crush on. We ended up messing around at the park too long, and we missed him. He does first and thinks about it later. Zayn and Liam are my other friends. We’re not as close, but they’re definitely considered family. So is Harry. Maybe they’re the cousins. Lou’s my brother.”

  This was the most Ashton had ever learned about someone in one day. He hoped this meant they were close enough to call each other friend’s now. “They sound amazing.” He meant it too. He knew what it was like to be close to people, and he was guessing Niall felt the same way about his friends that Ashton did his. “Do they all attend Manchester?”

  “Yep.”

  “Would they mind spilling some dirt on you?” Ashton asked him cheekily, earning a large smile--teeth and all--from Niall.

  “Goodness, I hope not. There’s a lot of it. I’m quite rash.”

  Ashton couldn’t wait to learn more. “Perfect.”

 


	4. Niall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just read it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't really have an updating system soz

Ever since his little football game with Louis that morning he had rather liked getting up early and practicing by himself in the morning.

  It was weird.

  And it obviously had nothing to do with the fact that he had met Ashton that morning. Absolutely nothing.

  He was very well aware that Ashton's due date was quickly approaching, and Niall felt very bad for being one of the reasons he wasn't getting any progress.

  All Ashton had that he was aware of was what Niall's friends had told him.

  There was only eight days until the thing needed to be done. So he called Ashton up and told him to meet him at the park with his camera.

  At only 8 in the morning there was no one present which was just the way Niall liked it.

  While he waited for Ashton, he dribbled the ball in between his feet and made a few laps around the lawn to warm himself up. He would've kept running but he saw Ashton approaching, holding a camera bag over his shoulder.

  Niall's pulse sped up. Why did Ashton have to be so cute? And why oh why were his glasses endearing? And there had to be something seriously wrong with him to find the light acne on Ashton's jaw attractive.

  Today he wasn't sporting his usual beanie and trench coat. Instead he had a knit sweater and his golden brown hair was in wild wispy curls across his forehead. "Didn't take you for an early riser," Ashton said when they stood no more than a foot from each other.

  "I'm not. At least I haven't been, but I learned I like playing footie when it's still 4 degrees outside." Niall gave him a crooked smile.

  A laugh escaped Ashton's lips and Niall was pretty sure it was the first time he'd heard it. He should do it more often. "I'm definitely not used to being this cold everyday."

  "Just you wait till winter hits us. Then you might need to find yourself a cuddle buddy."

  "I could use a cuddle buddy right now."

  Niall almost offered to do it, but he bit his tongue. Ashton probably didn't even like boys. "I'll spread the word for you."

  His eyes might have been deceiving him, but he could've sworn Ashton's expression saddened. It was gone in a moment. "So I thought I might get some video of you warming up and then I'll get some of you playing on Friday and edit them together. And maybe now I could get you to talk about when you first started playing football and stuff."

  "Sounds good." Niall finally realized how much Ashton's grade depended on him and felt a sudden weight being put on his shoulders. Oh great.

  Trying to ignore it, Niall went back to dribbling the ball while Ashton set up a rather expensive looking camera on a tripod. Just play like he's not even there, Niall told himself. It didn't really work.

  His feet fumbled a few times. He mentally cursed himself for making such a fools of himself in front of the cutest person he'd ever seen.

  It was only around five minutes until Ashton stopped him. "I don't need much of you just playing. I'll need more of you talking than anything. I may add your voice to clips of you just.. Doing things like footie and hanging out with Lou or something."

  Niall wasn't really sure of what he was saying so he just nodded. Ashton placed his hands on his shoulders (holy shit he's touching me) and moved him in a specific spot in don't of the camera.

  "Okay just... Talk about how you got into playing football and just go from there. Nothing you say will be wrong." Ashton gave him an encouraging smile.

  The probably was that Niall wasn't really sure how he got into football. "Well, everyone is into football 'round here so when I was seven and saw some of the older kids playing at school I told my dad I wanted to sign up and he put me into a program through a club back in Ireland since it was almost summer and we visited family back there in the summer.

  "It turns out I was pretty good and so I tried out for the school team with Louis. We both made it. From there it just kind of took off. When it wasn't football season at school I played in outside clubs. In college I got private coaching because I absolutely needed a scout to notice me. I was practicing a good 28 hours a week. Manchester noticed me in my last year and I got a scholarship. I hope to play for Manchester United after I graduate."

  Niall was practically sweating by the time he was done. What if this wasn't what Ashton wanted to hear? When he looked over to him for confirmation that what he had said was good, he saw the younger boy smiling widely.

  "That was brilliant! I can't wait to get more footage of you actually playing I have a good feeling about this movie. I could kiss you right now!" Ashton seemed to just realize what he'd said and blushed profusely.

  Niall would've been too but he was too distracted by the fact it could've been a spur of the moment. "I'm glad I could help. Is there anything else I can help you get done right now?"

  "Yes actually."

  Niall was surprised by Ashton's answer. Usually everyone said no to that. "Anything."

  Sheepishly, Ashton slipped his phone out if his pocket. "Instagram picture?"

  Niall almost burst out laughing. God freaking dammit Ashton was too adorable for one human to handle. "Sure." It took all his willpower for him to not add cutie at the end.

  Ashton snapped a selfie of the two of them and posted it on Instagram with the caption "my movie star :)" and Niall's insides tingled with the my at the beginning of that.

  "I know you don't have much time until that project is due. If you want to get together tonight after my practice we could do more? Or if you're busy I totally understand," Niall got out hurriedly.

  Ashton laughed again. "No friends remember? I'm never busy."

  "Well everyone else's loss and my gain then. See you there at around 7:30 again?"

  "Sure. I can order a pizza too maybe, if you'd like. You're probably hungry after practice I'm guessing?"

  Niall was already in love with this boy. He offered food. "Sounds fantastic. I don't care what kind, as long as it's edible."

  "Alright then." Dimples framed Ashton's smiling cheeks. "See you tonight then."

  There was an awkward silence. Niall gathered up the courage to hug Ashton quickly because friends hugged right? And was walking off so he couldn't see Ashton's reaction. He couldn't wait for tonight.


	5. Niall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They talk for a while??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI This story will start moving really fast but I'm too lazy to rewrite it, so don't hate. Enjoy lovelies xx

It was totally unusual for Niall to be the nervous one. Usually he was laid back and cocky. It could have something to do with the fact that this was the first time in a long time he actually liked someone. His normal routine was shag and leave.

  Ashton was totally freaking with his mind.

  Because Niall had never paid Ashton back for the coffee he stopped at Starbucks on his way over to Ashton's flat. He stole some of the cups warmth because it was freaking cold outside, especially at 7:42 at night.

  He was a little bit late arriving, but he could use Starbucks and practice getting out late as his excuse. His hair was still wet from showering and he could’ve sworn little icles were forming on the strands.

  Niall readjusted the cups in his hands and knocked on the door.  No answer. He knocked again. Still no answer. His brow furrowed. “Ashton?” he called, trying to be loud enough to be heard but not loud enough for the neighbours to hear.

  A moment later a very disheveled looking Ashton opened the door. His rectangular glasses were askew on his nose, and his hair in wild tufts. He looked very sleep and it was so cute, Niall had to restrain himself from telling Ashton so.

  “I fell asleep, I’m sorry. The flat is an absolute mess, and I didn’t order the pizza, I’m sorry,” Ashton rushed out.

  The thought of Ashton distressed in anyway made Niall extremely protective for some reason. Get a drip, Niall, he told himself. “It’s alright, b-” he almost, almost said ‘babe’ but caught himself. That would’ve been bad. Thankfully, Ashton was too drowsy to notice.

  “And you brought Starbucks, gah now I feel bad. I could order it now if you wanted?” Ashton gave a weak smile.

  “It’s okay, unless you really want to.” To be honest, Niall wanted pizza, but there was no way he wanted to make Ashton feel bad about not ordering it at all. He handed Ashton his still very warm toffee nut latte. “Hope you like toffee.”

  “Never had it,” Ashton mumbled, taking the warm beverage in his hands and holding it to his face. “Warm, hmm,” he said blissfully. “Oh! Come in please.” He stepped aside sheepishly to allow Niall access into his flat. “Didn’t have time to clean.”

  Niall smiled at him. “It’s okay, my dorm with Lou is ten times worse. We’re both the messiest people.” It was just as cozy as he remembered it last time. The only difference this time was there was a family photo hanging on the wall. It only had four people in it; Ashton, an older woman, a little boy, and younger girl. Most likely his siblings.

  He liked the little talks they had before they started filming. There was a playfulness that was endearing but also moments when he felt like they were really getting to know each other. With Louis they never learned anything about each other, they lived things with each other.

  “What’s the plan for tonight then?”

  Ashton stopped sipping at his latte. “I was hoping we could work on some background information. And then maybe if we have time I could mock interview you and I’ll cut my parts out.”

  Niall glanced at the area next to the equipment table. There was a green screen hanging on the wall, not very big maybe only 1.5 meters, with a stool in front of it. “Over there?” He pointed.

  “Yeah. I would’ve set up my camera but fell asleep…” Ashton walked over to his area and rummaged through one of the cupboards. “You can have a seat if you’d like!” His voice was muffled.

  Niall walked over to the stool and continued to sip at his drink. He totally was not checking out Ashton’s bum as he was bent over. His very cute and attractive looking bum that he wouldn’t have minded pinching.

  When he reappeared out of the cupboard, he was holding a camera that looked very, very expensive. Ashton retrieved a tripod that was leaning against the wall and went to work setting it up in front of Niall. Cords connecting the camera and the computer ran across the floor and Ashton almost tripped over them.

  Niall watched the scene with fascination. He noticed that when Ashton was concentrated his tongue stuck out between his lips and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. God, could he get any more adorable?

  “Done,” Ashton announced.

  A microphone from the top of the camera stuck out slightly towards Niall, and a little pop out screen was flipped towards him so he could seem himself in the camera. He should’ve straightened out just a little bit for this. “Am I too… casual?”

  “This is a documentary to get to know you. The real you, not a fake you. If this is what you normally wear then it’s perfect.” Ashton was talking to him while looking through the lense of the camera. “Are you ready?” Suddenly Ashton seemed all business. It was kind of hot.

  “Yep,” Niall said cheerily, leaning on the stool so he could toss his empty Starbucks in the rubbish bin.

  A red light appeared on the camera. Niall figured that meant they were filming.

  “Answer questions in complete sentences,” Ashton instructed. “What is your full name?”

  “My name is Niall James Horan.”

  “Where were you born?”

  “I was born in Mullingar, Westmeath, Ireland.”

  “Tell me about your family.”

  This entire conversation seemed robotic to Niall. Was this really how it was supposed to be. He tried to loosen up his expression into his normal nonchalantness vibe. “I grew up with me mum and dad and older brother in a little house. My mum is the sweetest woman in the world and I would do absolutely anything for her. My dad is like an older version of myself; laughs a lot, smiles a lot, jokes a lot. So is my brother, who is six years older than me. His name’s Greg. We’ve always been really close. He taught me everything I know about football. Couldn’t have asked for a better family.”

  “How was your school life?”

  “I went to the local school, only about three minutes down the road from our house. I was always a little charmer, even at a young age. I flirted with everyone, even my teachers. The students thought it was funny so I became the jokester. I had lots of friends, everyone seemed to like me, school was good. I had it lucky, I’ve heard stories about awful school experiences. Apparently Lou was also fighting for class clown too and that’s how we met. And became the two biggest class clowns.”

  “Love life?”

  “I had my first kiss with this girl named Gina when I was in year seven. She kissed me first, and it wasn’t like I couldn’t kiss her back. She was the most popular girl in middle school. That would’ve been a big no no. It wasn’t a great kiss, it did nothing for me, though I was still a 12 year old boy who hadn’t gone through puberty. Since that moment I was labeled a player. Little cocky, attention seeking me loved the title.”

  The red light turned off. Ashton looked like he was going to be sick. “That was great, thanks.” He swallowed and his nose twitched. “It’s 8:13, do we have time for more?”

  Niall wanted to ask Ashton what the matter was, but he clearly didn’t look in the mood for talking. “Sure.”

  The red light turned back on. “Biggest struggle you had in life?”

  Niall shifted in his chair. He knew easily what that was. “W-when I was 15 I…” His bottom lip shook. God Niall get a grip, he told himself, it was four years ago. He took a deep breath. “When I was 15 I was at football practice at school. Being only in my tenth year I was on the junior varsity team. We were having a practice with the varsity team and…” He really hoped Ashton was cool with this. “I thought the captain of the varsity team was the fittest person I’d ever seen.” He kept his eyes trained on Ashton’s family portrait to avoid eye contact. “I thought something was wrong with me. Everyone always asked me if I liked any girls. No, I never did. So that’s what I told them. I’d never even considered the idea that I liked blokes. It just wasn’t a thought that crossed my mind. I didn’t tell anyone for weeks. It was a time of self hatred, I lost a few pounds because I wasn’t eating. Finally, Lou got me alone and demanded to know what was wrong. I told him I thought I might like boys. ‘Thought?’ he’d asked. I wasn’t completely sure. I’d never done anything with a boy. I’d done plenty of things with girls and none of it was satisfying. ‘Would you like to test it out?’ was what he said. I knew Louis was completely straight. He’d been in love with his girlfriend of six months. So I told him yes. And we kissed. It was the first time I was actually… turned on. I begged him not to tell anyone, and he didn’t, just hugged me while I cried into his shoulder. It made things kind of awkward for me in the showers after practice now that I was sure I liked boys. I never made eye contact with any of them, not that they were attractive. All acne filled with baby fat still. Not really my type.”

  He took in some air after that long speech. He wasn’t done. “I told my parents a month a later. They were totally accepting, hugged me and reassured me that they loved me. Greg was the same. He threatened to hurt anyone who gave me shit for it. I really couldn’t have asked for better family.”

  The red light turned off. Ashton was smiling so widely at him. “That was beautiful,” he told him. “I’m so happy for your home situation.”

  Niall was tempted to ask what Ashton’s situation was but he didn’t. “Thanks. It was rough, but you know. I’m glad everything happened the way it did.”

  “I’m really glad you were able to share that with me. Thank you.” Ashton surprised the both of them by going up to him and hugging him. It wasn’t quick like Niall’s either. Niall pressed his nose into Ashton’s neck with his eyes closed. It lasted a good 30 seconds before they both mutually pulled back.

  “It’s 8:30. Do you have to leave or could you stay…?” Ashton blushed, holding his hands together in front of him.

  “I could stay.” Niall gave him a crooked grin. “What did you have in mind?”

  “How I Met Your Mother marathon?”

  “I wouldn’t watch How I Met Your Mother with just anyone. Sounds brilliant.” Niall also liked his chances of cuddling with Ashton on the couch. “I don’t have class until around one tomorrow.”

  Ashton let out a sigh. “I have class at 7 in the morning. Don’t usually go to bed ‘til 12 though, so I’ve got time.”

  “That’s a bad system.”

  “It is. But what am I going to do about it?”

  “Have a How I Met Your Mother marathon with me.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Niall loved how easy it was to talk to Ashton. Everything seemed to come naturally, there was never an awkward moment between them.

  Ashton bent down to the shelves below the TV to get out a box set of the show. “Shall we start from the first season?”

  “Wouldn’t be a marathon if we didn’t.” Niall plopped down on the couch because he was a rude little shit.

  Ashton slipped in the first disk and clicked the “play all” option. He dimmed the lights, got some blankets from his room, and settled on the couch next to Niall. It wasn’t a very big couch so he their legs were pressed up against each other.

  Throughout the first couple of episodes, each of them would say the next line before it was said and then laugh at each other’s bad imitations of the characters. By the time 11 rolled around, both of their eyelids were started to droop. Ashton was the first to fall asleep at 12, with his head against Niall’s shoulder. Niall was too tired to go home now so he allowed himself to fall asleep as well.

  It was definitely the best most uncomfortable sleep he’d ever gotten.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you should check out my other Nashton fic that I'm writing with someone else on here we update every sunday xx


	6. Ashton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niall's really hot while playing football.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments would be amaze thanks <3

Ashton woke up the next morning very… Confused. 1) He was not in his bed, and 2) there was someone with him. His head was in said person’s lap and one of their hands was slipped under the back of his shirt. He lifted his head and his cheeks reddened because it was Niall. Never had he pictured the two of them in this situation.

  He rubbed his eyes (where were his glasses?) and gently removed Niall’s hand from under his shirt. A soft snore was coming from his mouth. Usually snoring immediately turned him off--his first boyfriend snored and that was why he’d broken up with him--but Niall’s wasn’t very loud and resembled more of a puppy than a man.

  He felt around the ground for his glasses that must’ve fallen off. The clock under his TV, (still on with the How I Met Your Mother screen) said it was 6:27. He’d woken up just in time. He made sure there were still blankets on Niall then dashed to the bathroom so he could shower before class started.

 

It was 6:50 by the time he was ready. Shit. He’d be late to class. He scribbled a quick note to Niall explaining his absence then did an awkward jog to the tube. It was cold, and he was still mildly wet from his shower.

  He didn’t even have time for his morning dose of coffee.

  Film History was boring as usual. It took all his willpower not to fall asleep at his professor lecturing to them about the first official movie ever made (Fred Ott’s Sneeze, 1894). It was the most boring thing he’d ever heard. It wasn’t even a full minute long. Still, the professor insisted on playing the clip over and over again on the projector. He doubted he was the only one falling asleep.

  Throughout the class he thought about Niall instead of taking notes. He wondered if the blond boy was still asleep on his couch or already gone. He secretly hoped it was the first one.

  Time ticked by so slowly. He could’ve sworn the big hand was purposely trying to piss Ashton off by not moving. He tapped his pen against his blank notes page. He’d look up the stupid film later.

  After what felt like three days instead of 45 minutes, he gathered up his stuff quickly and was the first one out the door. Someone blocked his path.

  His first thought was this is weird, no one ever stops to talk to me but then he saw who it was. It was the boy from the day he’d met with Niall at Nando’s. Liam he remembered. Ashton thought he resembled David Beckham, just younger.

  “Yes?” he asked, in a small voice. He really just wanted to check to see if Niall was still there.

  “Hello. Ashton right?” Liam said in the most polite tone ever. “Louis wanted me to give you some pictures. He’s going to be in class all day, and Niall didn’t show up back at their dorm last night. “

  Ashton’s face lit up. “That’s wonderful! Not the Niall not showing up, the pictures.” He glanced at the box in Liam’s hands. “Thank you.”

  “Would you like to get some coffee with me? I could give my story of Niall to you. Or Zayn and I could, he’s meeting me there.”

  Ashton wanted to say no. He couldn’t because that was rude and also he needed them for the project. Only seven days left.

  “Sounds great.” He did his best attempt at a polite smile and followed Liam down the hall to the on-campus Starbucks. He’d most likely go broke from going to Starbucks so much. Oh well.

  Zayn was already sitting at a table by the window when they walked in.

  “What do you want? I’ll grab it,” Liam offered.

  “Nothing right now, thanks.” Ashton parted ways with Liam who went to the counter and went to sit at the table across from Zayn. “Morning.”

  Ashton wasn’t sure if he’d ever talked to the dark skinned boy. He probably would never unless he knew that he was friends with Niall. He looked intimidating.

  He definitely didn’t sound it though. Just like Liam, he smiled politely. “Hey,” he said, his Bradford accent very noticeable. “How’re you?”

  “A bit tired. Did you guys have a morning class?”

  “Liam did. But we always eat breakfast after his class together.” Zayn turned to look at Liam who was approaching the table with a drink and a bag in one hand. He took the seat next to Zayn and placed the box on the table. “Morning, babe.”

  Only then did Ashton realize what was happening; they were dating. He didn’t give it much thought.

  “Good morning,” Liam replied to him cheerily. “You can open the box, Ash.”

  That was all the confirmation Ashton needed. He took the smallish box into his lap. Inside were pictures different sized. There weren’t very many, maybe around 15. Give or take a few. The one on top was a picture of a very young looking Niall with brown hair and bright blue eyes. His arm was around another little boy’s shoulders, who he guessed was Louis.

 He picked up the stack and started to flip through it. As promised there were pictures of Niall drunk for the first time. He was pissed off his rocker with wild looking eyes and one eye half way closed and the other wide open. This was golden. There was another of an angry looking Niall with vibrant looking pink hair.

  “These are perfect. Tell Louis I said thank you.” Ashton placed them delicately back in the box and put the box by his feet. “Do you guys want me to film you here? Or would you rather we wait.”

  “Here is fine,” Liam said and Zayn didn’t disagree. “Do you have a camera?”

  Being smart for once, Ashton had started to carry around his pocket video camera in his bag. “I do.” He pulled the blue thing out and flipped it out. “Ready?” He received nods from both of them and started recording. “Where did you meet Niall?”

  Liam spoke first. “At a party the first week of Uni. He was pissed off his face. I was the designated driver for my group so I thankfully was not. He’s an emotional drunk, so he started blubbering to me about how he’d never find love because his boyfriend had just broken up with him apparently. When I spoke to Niall soberly, I learned that this was in fact not true. He’s also a stupid drunk.”

  Ashton nodded at Zayn to start talking. “Through Liam. Niall and Louis came over to our dorm to watch the Manchester United versus London game. I wasn’t really into sports but Niall was really happy and upbeat about it.”

 “Best thing about him?”

 “He’s extremely optimistic. Sometimes a little too much so. It’s hard for him to find anything bad in anyone or anything. He gets hurt easily because of it. But it’s also a great quality because it just gets everyone in a good mood.” Liam sounded so genuine while talking about Niall.

  Ashton hoped he got to know Niall well enough to talk about him like that.

  Zayn spoke without direction this time. “He seems really carefree and playful but when you really need him he knows how to simmer down and have a real conversation. When my sister was in the hospital last year and Liam was away, he stayed awake with me until 2 A.M. while I ranted and cried and repeat.”

  “Worst thing about him?”

  Instead of talking right away, both of them scrunched their faces up, thinking. Zayn spoke first this time. “His laugh is bloody annoying at four in the morning when you’re drunk and all you want to do is sleep and he’s laying in bed laughing over some joke Louis had told him four hours prior.”

  Liam laughed. “I’ll have to second that. Ah, for me it’ll be how he’s always making references to shows that no one has ever watched but him and then he laughs for five minutes because he thinks he’s hilarious.”

  Ashton turned off his video camera. “That was fantastic guys. Thank you.” He smiled appreciatively at them.

  “Any time,” Liam chirped. “If we can help with anything else just call. Oh.” He pulled a pen from his bag and a napkin from the table and scribbled his number on it. “Here.”

  Ashton took the napkin and neatly tucked it into his pocket. “Thanks, I’ll be sure to do so.” He stood up from the table. “I gotta go, I have to see if Niall is still asleep.”

  “Still asleep?” Liam questioned.

  “Um.” Ashton had slipped. “He fell asleep at my place last night. I didn’t have the heart to wake him up.”

  Liam gave him a knowing look. “Explains a lot. He’ll fall asleep wherever he’s comfortable.”

  Ashton laughed. “Good to know. Hey,” he stopped mid sentence, remembering there had been a fourth boy at the lunch two days ago. “Do you know where I could get a hold of Harry? So I could talk to him about Niall?”

  “I have his number. Text me and I’ll text it to you.”

  “Awesome.” Ashton actually did start to walk away this time. “Thanks again, guys. See ya around.”

 

Ashton had been planning to go back to his flat after his little meeting with Liam and Zayn, but he needed to pictures on his computer and he didn’t have a scanner.

  He took a detour to the printing room so he could photocopy the pictures. He leaned against the printer as he delicately set each one face down onto the machine. Some of them were freaking adorable. Baby Niall was his new favourite thing. One of the pictures Niall was probably no more than one with his arms behind his head and his eyes closed. He could’ve squealed it was so cute.

  The picture of Niall smoking was rather unattractive. His eyes were squeezed shut and his lips puckered together in disgust as a wave of smoke gathered around his face. He could definitely tell it wasn’t one of Niall’s most pleasant experiences.

  There was one picture of Niall no more than ten in his footie uniform, smiling widely with tousled brown hair. He could do a then and now comparative somewhere during the film.

  “Are you almost finished?” someone said behind him and Ashton almost jumped out of his skin.

  He hurried to collect all the pictures. “Just about,” he said to the unknown stranger. He plugged his thumb drive into the computer and dragged all the pictures he’d just copied onto it. He bit his fingernails impatiently while he waited for all the pictures to download onto it. He could feel the person becoming impatient behind him.

  When it was done he was out of the printing room as fast he could without making eye contact with the student.

 

The ride back his flat was boring. He’d never been so impatient to get back home. He needed to know if Niall was still there. It was almost nine. Did Niall sleep in when he didn’t have class until the afternoon?  
  Only one way to find out. He pushed the door open as silently as possible to avoid waking up Niall in case he was sleeping. His couch was empty. Ashton sighed in disappointment. A part of him was relieved. There would be no awkward “this didn’t mean anything” conversations.

  Then he heard his shower running. If Niall hadn’t been over he would’ve panicked because holy shit a stranger was in his house. And maybe a stranger was. It may not have been Niall.

  Ashton hesitantly walked into his bedroom where the bathroom was connected to. He heard faint singing coming from behind the closed door. “And I just haven’t met you yet!” a voice was singing. He couldn’t tell if the voice was good or not because of the water but it was no doubt Niall’s.

  He probably should’ve been weirded out that Niall was using his shower without permission, but he wasn’t. He set his bag down on his bed and walked back into the living room to upload the pictures to his computer while he waited for Niall to come out.

  There probably would be that awkward conversation now plus the awkward “sorry I used your shower” conversation now too. At least they would be talking.

  A few minutes later (after successfully uploading the pictures) Ashton jumped for the second time that hour.

  “Where’d you get those?” Niall asked horridly.

  Ashton turned around his swivel chair to look at a very wet and very exposed Niall who was just wrapped in a towel. Whoa was the only thing that came to mind at Niall’s very exposed torso. “Louis gave them to Liam who gave them to me this morning.”

  “Fucking twat,” Niall mumbled under his breath. “Hope you don’t mind. I used your shower.” He didn’t sound very sorry. “I shower after I wake up, it’s my routine.”

  “No problem. Do you need some clothes?”

  “If it isn’t any trouble.”

  Ashton was very intrigued by the idea of Niall wearing his clothes. He went to his bedroom and tried to find something that he thought Niall might fit in. He was smaller than Ashton by a lot. He ended up grabbing his smallest pair of jeans and his old band shirt that had the sleeves cut off. “Here.” He handed them to Niall.

  “Thanks,” Niall replied and went back to the bathroom to change into them.

  Ashton’s cheeks were still pink because Niall was fucking hot in just a towel.

  He came back out, freshly groomed and in Ashton’s clothing. The jeans fit him perfectly for the shape, but the ankles were a bit baggy. The shirt hung off his body immensely. “I should probably head back to the dorm. Lou is probably worried, I usually call. Last night was fun.” Niall hooked his fingers in the belt loops while smiling. “We should do it again sometime.”

  “Totally,” Ashton agreed. If it meant falling asleep with Niall again on his tiny couch, he was all for it.

  “The game’s tonight. You should come,” Niall said hopefully.

  “I think I will. I need to get out more.” Ashton gave him a half smile. Being an introvert the first few months of college were alright but ever since somewhat socializing with Niall and co. he’d realized how much he missed being partially an extrovert. “And footage of course.”

  Niall started walking to the door and Ashton followed. “Great, I’ll look out for you.” And for the third time they hugged.

 


	7. Niall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Football matches and parents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm bad at updating I'm sorry, thanks for the lovely comments <3 And btw, I've never played soccer/football so sorry if this is wrong!

It was only another game Niall should not be so nervous. And he wasn’t nervous. His heart was just beating at an unusually fast pace and his palms were producing a liquid that resembled sweat.

  Why was he nervous? Oh yeah, because Ashton would be watching this time. With his camera that could no doubt zoom in on his every move.

  Louis was lacing up his cleats next to him, watching Niall pace in front of him amusedly. “Why so worrisome?”

  Niall knew that Louis knew very well why he was worried. No he wasn’t worried… Just tense. “I’m not worried,” he snapped. “It’s just, this a big game, I don’t want to screw up.” That was a total lie. They could beat Yorkshire in their sleep. The stuff he’d told to Ashton about needing support was utter bullshit.

  “Stop getting so worked up, mate,” Louis told him, getting up from the bench. They were the only ones left in the locker room, and if they didn’t hurry up they’d be hearing it from their coach. “You’ll do fine as always. Pretend Ash isn’t even there.” He gave a friend slap to the back and then exited the lockers.

  Niall sighed indignantly, following Lou out.

  People were already filling the stadium. So far, no Ashton as far as he could tell. His teammates were huddled in a circle at the side of field so he went to join them.

  “This should be an easy win, but don’t get cocky about it. I don’t want you thinking you can slide your way through this and let them get ahead. You play your hardest as always,” their coach was saying, “Got it?”

  There were mumbled “yessirs” through the huddle.

  “Good! Now start your warm up drills. We have right side.”

  Niall jogged with Louis out onto the field, a ball tucked under his arm. The other team was already practicing their goals. Great.

  “I said stop being nervous,” Louis told him.

  “I’m not nervous.”

  “You’re a bloody liar, Horan.” Louis went to the halfway line while Niall went halfways across from him. "You hardly know the kid."

  "I just..." Niall kicked the ball with inside of his foot towards Louis. "I don't even know if he's gay. Or bi or whatever. I shouldn't even be imagining a future with him unless I know I have a shot."

  Louis gave him a look. "Please. He's a film major and he wears scarves. He's interested."

  "I wear--" Niall realized Lou's point and shut up. "That doesn't mean anything. He also wears tank tops that look really good on him because _fuck_ his arms look like they were sculpted by Leonardo da Vinci himself."

  "Dude you guys cuddled on a couch together. If that isn't proof enough then you need help."

  Niall decided to ignore Louis and try to get his head in the game. Or at least get his mind off this topic. "How's Eleanor?" After missing her, Louis had gotten up everyone morning without Niall to try and find her and actually managed just that. Apparently they hit it off pretty well.

  "Don't try that, I know what you're doing. She's fine."

  Niall would've replied with a witty retort back but their coach blew his whistle.

 

In no time at all, Niall was getting ready to play offense. He hadn't spotted Ashton but there were so many people there it was almost impossible to tell.

 His body was moving faster than his brain, and he felt like he was going to fall on his face. All of a sudden he was running across the field, dribbling a ball between his feet.

  Instead of being smart and passing the ball to a clearly open player of his team, he tried to run it to the goal himself and Yorkshire swiped the ball out from under him.

  From the sidelines his coach was shouting at him, sounding like he was getting ready to murder him.

  Louis was the best goalie at Manchester and saved Yorkshire from making a goal by diving in front of it. Niall never felt more relieved.

  Louis put the ball back in play by throwing it in towards Niall while giving him a don't-screw-this-up look.

  Niall ran back along the field, mumbling threatening words to himself because he was losing his mind. His coach was still yelling at him not to make a mistake again. He wasn’t completely thick headed and when he saw his teammate clearly waving at him to pass the ball he did. And according to him it was a fantastic pass.

  For the remainder of the match until half time his coach yelled at him that he would pull him out if he “made another bloody error” so Niall did his best to not let his thoughts wander off to Ashton somewhere in the crowd with his camera trained on him.

  The referee blew his whistle, signaling that they had 15 minutes until the next half started. The score was still trained at 0-0. It really shouldn’t be because Yorkshire were awful and Manchester was not.

  Their coach didn’t look happy in the slightest. “Remember when I said don’t act too cocky and play your hardest? Well you’re not doing any of those things! We should be crushing them!” He grumbled angry under his breath. Niall had always thought he resembled Mario because he had a handle bar mustache and always wore a red hat.

  “Take your break and meet back in here in ten minutes, got it?”

  Niall normally would’ve gone with the rest of the team back inside the locker rooms, but he needed to see Ashton and Louis wasn’t going in either. It didn’t take long to find the taller boy, he was sitting in the front row next to Eleanor so he just followed Lou.

  He leaned against the railing. “Having fun?”

  Ashton had his camera on a strap around his neck, and he was holding it delicately in his hands. “I never thought I would find football so entertaining. Maybe it’s cause you’re playing.”

  Niall hated himself for blushing at that. “Oh yeah? Well I’m glad I can make things interesting for you.”

  “I’m glad too.” Ashton pulled a small pocket camera out of his bag. “Say cheese.”

  “You’re a photographer too?” Niall took a few steps back from the railing so he gave Ashton a better view.

  “Hardly,” Ashton scoffed, snapping a picture of a smiling Niall. “It’s not that hard to hold your hand steady and press a button. I just need it for the movie. It’s not the best camera, cost around 25 pounds.”

  “We’re not doing so well.” Niall leaned across the railing so their faces were a few inches apart. “You’re not a very good luck charm.”

  “I never knew I was assigned the job.”

  “Well you were.”

  “My apologies. I’ll try harder.”

  Niall smiled crookedly at him. “We really need it. We should have at least one if anything. I don’t understand what’s happening.”

  “Maybe I’m the bad luck charm and I should leave.” Ashton looked completely serious and a bit sad at the prospect.

  “No,” Niall whined. “Please stay. There’s only 45 minutes left.”

  “But you said you’re not doing as well as you should.” Ashton frowned. “It’s oddly coincidental that you’re suddenly not playing your hardest when I come for the first time.”

  Niall rolled his eyes. “Please. I just need to step up my game because I suck.”

  The coach blew his whistle, meaning Niall had to leave. “I’ll talk to you after the game, yeah? Wish me luck.”

  Before Niall knew what was happening, Ashton’s arms were wrapping around his shoulders in a tight hug. It wasn’t long enough for Niall to get his arms around Ashton. “Good luck,” Ashton said encouragingly.

  Niall gave him a quick smile and jogged over to meet his teammates in the huddle. Their coach still looked pissed as hell. Ashton’s little hug had him buzzing though, and he was ready to start kicking some ass.

 

As it turns out they didn’t do much ass kicking. The team was letting their defeat get to them which was definitely making their playing skills weaker. Niall kept shouting things that were supposed to sound positive but came off a bit negatively.

  They did end up winning 1-0. Niall didn’t make the winning goal which he would’ve liked too. It was Stan. He took some of the credit because he sent Stan a beautiful pass to which he kicked the ball in the goal. It was obviously a team effort.

  There was a big crowd on the field, with the team lifting Stan onto their shoulders and Lou and Niall ditching them. And then Louis ditching him to go find Eleanor.

  He was going to find Ashton as well but he was being enveloped in arms that were more feminine than Ashton’s and much shorter. It took him a second to see who it was. “Mum? What’re you doing here?” He wrapped his arms around her as well. He hadn’t seen her since the holidays. Behind her was his dad wearing the famous Horan smile.

  “We both took the weekend off to surprise you with a visit,” his father explained, hugging him once Maura let him go.

  “Missed you, baby,” Maura told him, pinching one of his cheeks.

  “Missed you guys too,” Niall said genuinely. He really did miss his parents, but he wished they could’ve chosen a different day to pop in. He was hoping to get a victory hug from Ashton. He was secretly looking for the boy over his parents heads.

  “We thought we would treat you to dinner,” his dad was saying, but Niall wasn’t really paying attention. He caught the sight of Ashton behind them. He was staring directly at Niall but not moving, probably not wanting to disrupt their conversation.

  His parents were staring at him waiting for an response. “Unless you’re busy…,” his mum added hesitantly.

  “Hold on a sec.” Niall felt rude for blatantly ignoring his parents, but Ashton was more important right now. He motioned with his hands for Ashton to walk over.

  A few seconds later Ashton was next to him, looking very out of place. His camera was still hung around his neck. Without even thinking about it, Niall wrapped an arm around Ashton’s waist.

  “Mum, Dad, this is Ashton,” Niall told them happily. Ashton didn’t seem bothered by the fact that Niall was touching him so he left his arm.

  Maura gave a knowing smile to Niall. He really hoped she didn’t say anything embarrassing in front of Ashton. “Nice to meet you. Niall’s never talked about you, have you been together long?”

  There it was.

  Ashton didn’t seem phased luckily. “No, no, we’re not dating, just friends. And I’ve only known him since…” He looked at Niall. “Seven days now?”

  “I think so.” Niall glanced at his parents reaction to this. His mum was raising her eyebrow suspiciously and his dad looked very lost at what was going on.

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you, dear,” Maura said politely, still looking at Niall.

  “Ash is making a movie about me.” The way he said it made it sound cooler than it actually was. If Niall was being honest he thought it was pretty damn cool.

  “He’s what?” Maura asked.

  Ashton took over this time. “I’m a film major. One of my assignments was to make a documentary about one of the students here, and I chose Niall.”

  “A film major?” Bobby spoke up. “That sounds fascinating. I’d love to hear about what you do for class and what kind of equipment you use.”

  “I’d be happy to tell you,” Ashton laughed. Niall was elated at how well Ashton got along with his parents. “If maybe in exchange I could interview you about Niall for the movie?”

  “No,” Niall stepped in quickly. “Nope. Because they’ll just embarrass me.”

  Ashton stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. “Pleaseeeeee,” he begged. He purposely made his eyes wider so he resembled a begging puppy. Prick.

  “We’d love to help, Ashton,” Maura said gently. “You could join us for dinner tonight? If that’s still on?” She glanced hopefully at Niall.

  Niall didn’t look happy as he said, “Fine.”

  Ashton looked thrilled. “If you’re sure it’s not any trouble. I don’t want to intrude on family time.”

  Bobby laughed. “We’ve spent 19 years with the kid. You won’t be intruding at all.”

  “Alright then.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there will be smut next chapter xx


	8. Ashton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS BEEN LIKE 900 YEARS OOPS
> 
> there's smut in this oh
> 
> follow me on tumblr xx http://cuppashit.tumblr.com

The dinner with Niall’s parents was everything he hoped to be and more. Ashton sat next to Niall, and occasionally their hands would brush against each other’s and their knees were always touching. He liked being close to Niall.

  Maura and Bobby were just as charming as their son. Bobby asked many, many questions about what it was like to be a film major. Ashton answered everything he could, but he’d only been at University for two and half months, there were so many things he hadn’t experienced yet.

  Ashton asked them questions too. He got out his little Canon Camcorder and filmed them right in the restaurant. They weren’t bothered at all, just answered all of Ashton’s questions with a smile.

  Niall imitated stabbing himself with a fork every so often when his parents would say something embarrassing about him, but he never interrupted the taping. He knew how much this whole thing meant to Ashton to be that much of a dick about it.

  It was a very good night and Ashton was pleased.

  Niall was walking to the tube to say his good night to Ashton. He was more than happy that Niall felt the need to do so and a smile lit up his face the entire time.

  “Wait,” Niall stopped walking. Ashton almost ran into him. “There’s a party that Stan is throwing. Come with me.”

  “Niall, it’s--” Ashton pulled out his phone “--11:13. Isn’t it a bit late?”

  “Ashton, dear,” Niall chuckled. “University parties go ‘til well 4 in the morning. Have you never been to a party while you’ve been here? Boy, you’re wasting your social life away!”

  Ashton gnawed on his bottom lip. “I don’t know, Ni…”

  “I’ll stay with you the whole time, I promise.” Niall held his hands together in a way of begging. “Please, you’ll have a good time. Have you ever even had a drink before?”

  “Yes,” Ashton said defensively. “And I’ve been drunk before too. More than once, thank you.”

  “Then you’ll have no problem coming with me.” Apparently Niall wasn’t having any other say in the matter because his hand was now linked with Ashton’s and he was pulling him away from the direction of the tube and back towards University campus.

  “There’s a party in one of the dorms?”

  “No. He lives off campus. You know the rich neighbourhoods just a few blocks down? That’s it. He lives with his parents but they agreed to go away for the weekend so he could have his little party. As long as everything was cleaned up when they got back.” Niall didn’t falter in his steps during his explanation.

  Ashton decided arguing was useless and let himself be dragged. He focused on the fact that Niall and him were holding hands. Of course it looked rather awkward because not all their fingers were laced together and Ashton’s hand was limp but still. It counted.

  The walk to Stan’s house wasn’t very long, and it was easy to tell it was his house. There were lights on in every window and music so loud he was surprised the neighbours didn’t call to complain. They were probably used to it by now, living next to a university and all. Bad move on their part.

  Niall didn’t release his hand as he knocked on the door and now Ashton was able to grip it back. The person who answered was a boy who looked mildly sober. He let them in without question, mumbling some things to Niall about a good job at the game.

  Inside was even louder than outside. Ashton was very well aware of the fact that he still had his camera bag and people were bumping into him with every step he took. “Ni, I need to put my bag somewhere safe.”

  “Oh, I’ll take put it in a closet. Here.” Niall took the bag, let go of Ashton’s hand, and disappeared into the crowd.

  Ashton pouted because Niall broke his promise. When he came back with no bag, Ashton said, “You left me alone.”

  Niall laughed, lacing their fingers together again. “I’m sorry, won’t happen again. Your bag is safe now.” He started pulling Ashton through the crowd of people to the kitchen where a makeshift bar was set up. Bottles of alcohol lined the counter. “What do you want?”

  “I don’t know.” Ashton had never been a fan of drinking, only getting drunk. Sadly drinking was required for that part so he managed. “Whatever.”

  “We’ll start off easy,” Niall told him, one handedly going through the cooler. He took out two beers, handing one to Ashton.

  Ashton didn’t like the taste of the bronze-ish liquid inside but he drank it anyway. It wasn’t as bad tasting as other stuff he tried. He stayed quiet as he sipped at the beer while people came up one after another to chat with Niall who was loud and bubbly as always. Their hands stayed together the whole time.

  

Four beers, nine shots, and half a bottle of vodka later, Ashton was completely pissed. Every word that left his mouth was slurred and a strange smile played on his lips.

  Niall had even more than Ashton, but he was still partially sober.

  “You’re cute,” Ashton told him, still with the somewhat psychotic smile on his face. He was a happy drunk.

  “Thank you,” Niall told him, “your kind words mean a lot.” He smirked at his friend, still holding his hand, because he was hilarious while drunk. “You’re cute too.”

  Ashton giggled, something he would’ve never done while sober in front of Niall. “I like you.” Something else he never would’ve said. He could deny it when he was sober again and blame the influence of alcohol. He would be lying though.

  “That’s a relief, I like you too.” Niall chuckled, bopping his finger against Ashton’s nose. “I should get you drunk more often.”

  “You really should, it’s quite a nice feeling, I don’t know why I’m not like this every night. Can we do it again? I don’t want to do it again without you.”

  “Sure, sweetheart.”

  Ashton would probably regret everything in the morning, while vomiting in a toilet but right now that didn’t really seem that big of a deal to him. “Can I kiss you?” Ashton asked lazily.

  Niall had been going along with whatever Ashton’s drunken thoughts said to him but now he gaped. “Um… If you want to.”

  “I want to.”

  “Okay then.”

  And then Ashton was pressing his lips against Niall’s. While his brain was sober (shit shit shit!) his body was not and was going off its own free will. The kiss was sloppier than he would’ve liked for their first one, but they were still kissing and wow. He somehow managed to get some control over himself and worked his lips slowly against Niall’s, who wasn’t pulling away.

  Soon their kiss turned more heated and Ashton found himself doing things he would never do while sober. Ashton was slipping his hand up Niall’s shirt. “Let’s take this upstairs, babe,” Niall said to him while panting slightly. They quickly took the stairs two at a time and chose a random bedroom.

  Niall pushed Ashton gently onto the bed, continuing to kiss him. He moved his lips down Ashton’s jaw and neck. “Too much clothing,” he mumbled against his skin, creating marks. Hands slipped up Ashton’s shirt and took it off over his head. There was no objection, only the nodding of Ashton’s head in a silent “keep going”.

  Their groins rubbed together through layers of jeans and Ashton could feel himself and Niall becoming hard. Niall pulled his shirt off over his head, tossing it somewhere else in the room.

  Ashton, suddenly feeling sober, asked, “Are we allowed to do this in here?”

  “He prefers you do them in the room than on the lawn like last time,” Niall reassured. He pressed feathery kisses against Ashton’s chest.

  Ashton ran his hands along Niall’s surprisingly broad chest. They still had too much clothing on for his taste. He looped his fingers through Niall’s belt loops, while kissing him on the mouth again. He bit Niall’s lower lip, earning a sort of growl from the older boy.

  Niall was sliding Ashton’s jeans off his waist while looking up at him, waiting for any signal that meant no, but Ashton did nothing to stop him. Ashton slid the zipper down on Niall’s pants once his were long gone, but Niall removed them for Ashton. Soon all that separated their dicks from touching was two thin layers of underwear. Ashton’s bulge was very prominent, but so was Niall’s.

  Teasingly, Ashton stuck a few fingers under the hem of Niall’s underwear while Niall was creating more bruising along his chest.

  And before he knew what was happening, both of their pairs of underwear i being thrown across the room. All Ashton was aware of was the fact that nothing was in between them now. Niall rolled his hips against Ashton’s who closed his eyes at the oddly euphoric sensation.

  Ashton had never had sex with a boy before. He did know what was needed though. “We don’t have a condom and lube,” he said, disappointed. He would’ve been too embarrassed to point that out completely sober.

  “Oh but we do.” Niall stretched to open up the drawer by the bed and retrieved both items. “Stan keeps the bedrooms stalked for parties. He’s prepared.”

  “Good lord,” Ashton mumbled, but he wasn’t complaining. The two items were set aside while Niall worked Ashton’s very, very, very hard dick with his hands. Light moans escaped Ashton’s lips.

  “I’ll go easy,” Niall said gently, coating his fingers with the lube. He pushed one finger slowly inside of Ashton.

  Ashton thought it was the weirdest feeling in the world, but it was rather satisfying as well. He keep his eyes shut while Niall slipped that one finger in and out. “Tell me if you feel uncomfortable.” Another finger. This hurt a tiny bit compared to one, but he didn’t fidget while Niall worked him with two, curling them inside him every so often.

  “More,” Ashton mumbled.

  Then there were three fingers inside of him. Ashton internally winced, trying to adjust to the unfamiliar situation. Niall was slow at first then sped up the rhythm of his fingers sliding in and out and curling and prodding.

  Ashton’s moan was a little louder this time.

  Niall continued with the three fingers for a while longer, eventually hitting Ashton’s prostate. Ashton tilted his head back, moaning loud enough for someone next store to hear it if the music from downstairs wasn’t so loud.

  “Are you ready?” Niall whispered with a low voice.

  Ashton nodded. “Yes.” Excitement filled him as Niall rolled the condom onto his dick (it was bigger than Ashton would’ve imagined.)

  Niall coated lube over the condom and then lingered at Ashton’s entrance. “You sure you’re ready?” he teased.

  “Yes, you shit,” Ashton said irritably. “Get on with it.”

  “Someone’s impatient.” Niall chuckled, sliding inside of Ashton’s slowly.

  This is really weird, Ashton thought, but wonderful. It hurt at first but he adjusted to the feeling quickly.

  “Alright?” Niall asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Niall went in and out at a slow pace, and Ashton’s eyes rolled back into his head because, fuck it felt so good. “Faster,” he mumbled.

  Niall obliged, moving at a faster pace now. Ashton let out a muffled groan at the feeling. He ran his fingernails down Niall’s back as he moved with a pattern of in, out, in, out, in. Niall hit the prostate again and Ashton was pretty sure nothing was better than that feeling.

  “Niall,” Ashton moaned.

  “Baby,” Niall replied with a thick voice.

  They went on like that for a while longer, Ashton creating marks in Niall’s back while moaning different words that included “fuck” “faster” and “Niall”, and Niall tried different paces, sometimes going faster or slower, and even roughly.

  After Niall hitting him just the right way again, Ashton couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Have… to release…”

  “Hold on just a little longer, babe,” Niall begged gently, pressed his lips to Ashton’s collarbone.

  Ashton did hold out for a little longer but it was becoming extremely difficult. “Now,” he said and then he came onto the stranger’s bed sheets. That’d be a story.

  Niall came a little bit after him inside the condom and pulled all the way out. He pressed soft kissed to Ashton’s face. “You were fantastic, baby,” he told him and then went to get up to dispose of the condom.

  Ashton was still in awe of what just happened. He’d be kind of mad that his first time with a guy had been a drunk one, but it still was the best thing he’d ever experienced in his short inexperienced life.

  Niall laid down in the bed next to him, snuggling his face into Ashton’s back. Ashton was still on top of the now contaminated comforter, but he moved under the covers with Niall and both of them were asleep within minutes.


End file.
